Pinkvilla Picks: Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Kaithi starring Karthi will keep you ‘locked’ to the screen

Kaithi is one of the rare films that pops up in Kollywood once in a while which would make us awestruck. Among the movies that were released for Deepawali this year, Kaithi should not be missed if you are a true movie buff. Written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Kaithi narrates the story of a prisoner. Dilli (Karthi) is a felon, who was in prison for his murder. Though the film had nothing about the murder, it is expected and believed my maximum of audience that the film will have a second installment, which will narrate the story of how he ended up in Jail. After getting out of the prison, Dilli’s only mission was to meet his 10-year-old daughter whom he has never seen. In some minor portions of the flashback, it was revealed that his wife was killed during a horrific incident. From the beginning to the end, the screenplay would keep one glued to their seats. The film is all about the billion dollar question that will be on the minds of audience. Will Dilli meet his daughter?

Even after getting out of the prison, Dilli is being taken hostage by cops to drive truck. On the command of a top cop, Bejoy (Narain), Dilli has no option but to follow his orders in order to safely get out of the situation. The cop is on a mission to catch hold of a drug peddler who has been escaping from him some way or the other. The situation that marks the meeting of Dilli and Bejoy was very critical, that neither of them had any option but to depend on each other. To Bejoy, this mission was very important, as the dealer poisoned the other cops, and a huge quantity of cocaine was hidden in the commissioner office.

While one side of the coin shows the cocaine dealers and cops and a running and chasing drama, on the other side stands an innocent girl from an orphanage, who was taken by a shocker that her biological father was going to visit her the next day. While the film’s cast members have put in their best efforts, the child artist deserves a round of applause, for she perfectly played a clueless girl, caught with waves of strange emotions. While she was waiting for her father to visit, planning about what to wear while meeting, she also keeps the other option open that he might not turn up.

Now let’s talk about the drama that is happening in the commissioner’s office. Having received information from a top cop to keep the office safe, all police officers leave the office unattended, except for one cop who was joining duty in her new office. He takes charge of the whole situation single handedly. However, the situation leads to more and more complications to him and with the help of few college students who were held captive by the cops who have already left the office.

Coming back to Dilli’s situation, at one point it makes us tired with all the impossible stunts and trickier situation. The traps that are set by the drug peddlers to catch hold of Bejoy are never ending. However, in between all the running and chasing, there are few comic scenes between Dilli and the truck cleaner Kamatchi (Played by Dheena) that will keep us entertained. The ultimate aim of the drug peddlers here is to catch Bejoy and keep their boss Tips (played by Ramana) safe.

In between all the roller coaster rides that are happening in various situations, the director had managed to merge in a lot of melodrama. Even after getting beaten up by a gang of thugs, Kathi regains all the energy just by realizing that the earring that he bought to gift his daughter was being crushed by one of the villains. Though the film had a box office clash with a Bigil, Kaithi managed to fetch unexpected profit to its makers. Watch this movie to break your quarantine blues.